Sisi to be sworn in as Egypt president Sunday

CAIRO- Ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted Egypt's first freely-elected leader, will be sworn in as president on Sunday after he overwhelmingly won last week's election, state media reported.
The electoral commission on Tuesday said Sisi won 96.91 percent of the vote with a turnout of 47.5 percent, nearly one year after he overthrew Islamist Mohamed Morsi.

His crushing victory over sole rival, leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi, had never been in doubt, with many lauding the retired field marshal as a hero for ending Morsi's year of divisive rule 11 months ago. Sisi will be sworn in at 0730 GMT on Sunday before the general assembly of the Supreme Constitutional Court, state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday, quoting Maher Sami, deputy head of the court. The swearing-in ceremony will be attended by interim president Adly Mansour, prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab and his cabinet, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Egypt's key Muslim institution, Al-Azhar, Coptic Pope Tawadros II, and other political and public figures, MENA said. The ceremony will be followed by a reception to be attended by kings and heads of states in Cairo's Ittihadiya palace, it said. A second reception will be held at 1600 GMT at the capital's Kubba palace to be attended by around 1,000 guests from several political groups, MENA added. The three-day presidential election was boycotted by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and several youth groups of the 2011 popular uprising, after both were targeted in a campaign to suppress dissent. Since Morsi's ouster in July last year, a brutal police crackdown on his supporters has left more than 1,400 people killed and over 15,000 jailed. Hundreds have also been sentenced to death after speedy trials, triggering international outrage. Sisi has said that for him, "national security" takes precedence over democratic freedoms, comments that have sparked concerns of a return to autocracy in Egypt. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------